Out of the Ordinary
by Crazy Adolescence
Summary: ON HIATUS. - Amber Baxter had always managed to get herself in trouble and now, here she was doing community service with some oddball young offenders. If she thought she'd be paying the price for her actions by simply picking up some litter and dog shit, she was in for a real shock. Literally. - Gradual Nathan/OC.
1. The Storm

**Chapter 1 - The Storm**

* * *

When Amber was six, she spent a majority of her time daydreaming about what she wanted to do when she grew up. You know, as kids do. She went through a right list of jobs… a vet, an astronaut, a chef and all that bullshit. She imagined herself with a gorgeous, slick car parked outside of her huge, fuck off mansion. Never in a million years did she think that at the age of nineteen she would be living in shitty flat in Wertham, enduring the hours working on the tills at the local Sainsbury's with her sleazy manager Peter giving her the eye.  
Oh, and just to put a juicy glacé cherry on top of the shit pile; she now had two hundred hours of community service ahead of her.

According to her family, it was only a matter of time. She wasn't exactly the best behaved person you could meet. Apparently, waking people up at three in the morning by blasting out dubstep music while driving a car - that may or may not be entirely your own - doesn't get you much respect. Neither does tearing up your mum's favourite vile green dress and then blaming it on the cat. What Amber called 'saving her mother from looking like a monster from Scooby-Doo' was what her mum called 'I'm sick of your antics- get the fuck out of my house!'  
After that, things pretty much fell to shit and she landed herself here.

Here being Wertham Community Centre, dressed in a fluorescent orange jumpsuit with 'Community Payback' printed across the back. As if being on Community Service wasn't bad enough, herself and the other six degenerates being dressed up and in a line against the railings made them look like competitors on some new, crappy game-show. While Mr Probation Worker Tony recited his obviously rehearsed speech, Amber took in the offenders.

Contestant Number One went by the name of Curtis Donovan. Dark-skinned, muscular and with what the papers said, a bloody good athlete. Well, that was until he fucked up his career by doing steroids… or crack… and landed himself on community service.

On Curtis' left was Contestant Number Two, who had swaggered up to the probation worker doing his pathetic attempt at a gangster limp and introduced himself as Gary. There's not much to be said about a guy like that, the picture is already painted.

Beside Gary was a lanky, curly-haired, Irish lad who wore the worlds cockiest grin to date. Without the grin, you'd think he was harmless enough, but his mouth seemed to be something that wasn't shut for very long, even if you put a clamp on it. Either way, he'd made so many snide comments since they'd been outside that Amber had tried to ignore him, so she didn't know his name.

Beside the Irish kid were the only other girls in the group who went by the names of Alisha and Kelly. Kelly appeared as what was commonly referred to in the urban dictionary as a chav. Hair scraped back, cheap make-up plastered and the good, old Reebok trainers.

Alisha, however, was her opposite. Tanned, petite, beautiful. But oh god, didn't she know it. She'd done a thorough 'Pimp-My-Community-Jumpsuit' by accessorizing it with a belt, and the zip was so low that she was showing a dangerous amount of cleavage. Alisha was what was commonly referred to as a tart.

The last boy of the bunch was Simon. Amber recognized him from the daily trips he made to Sainsbury's to buy his usual can of Pepsi and Tutti Frutti chewing gum. He seemed a nice enough kid, although it couldn't be denied, he was a complete oddball. He was pale and everything about him was neat. His clothes were well ironed with no creases, his hair was flat and precise... it made him all the more creepy, especially since he sported the deer-in-the-headlights look permanently.

Finally, it was her. Amber Baxter. Medium height, dark blonde hair and narrow body. She was donning the assigned bright orange horror of a uniform and her tatty black Doc Martens. Nothing about her appearance suggested much to her personality, and she was grateful, because it had suddenly dawned on her as she took in the delinquents - who were laughing at Curly and Gary, who had decided to put on their own pitiful display of a fight - that she would be spending the next few weeks in their company. Amber let out a long sigh and shook her head. There was a simple word to describe these kind of situations.

Shit.

* * *

Eventually, they were given the task of painting benches. Amber quickly snatched up a paint tin and brush and made a beeline for the bench the furthest away from the community centre. Simon followed closely and took his place opposite her, along with Gary. It occurred to Amber that Simon probably felt the most comfortable with her since she was the most familiar to him, as he was to her. So, you could sort of call him an ally. A companion. Simon wasn't the worst person to have as company really, having someone you knew actually put some relief on the whole situation. It was better when Gangster Gary got a paddy on, kicked his paint can in the river and stomped off because he got paint on his cap, which obviously to him was worth more than the Crown Jewels.

Amber snorted and continued painting the bench. It was a true skill, painting. Getting in all the nooks and crannies, making the subject look smooth and flawless by small brush strokes. Although, Amber had the attention span of goldfish and all that went out the window and she ended up painting patterns and obscene words instead. When that lost its entertainment, she allowed herself to eavesdrop into the conversation between Kelly and the Irish kid on the neighbouring bench.

"So I'm guessing shoplifting?" The Irish guy said. "No?"

Kelly glared at him. "Don't act like ya know me, 'coz ya don't."

"I'm just making conversation," The Irish guy replied. "This is a chance to network with other young offenders. We should be swapping tips. Brainstorming. Come on, what did you do?"

"This girl called me a slag so we got into a fight."

"Was this on the Jeremy Kyle Show?" Amber chuckled silently. Curly had certainly made an impression already. Shit talking, starting a fight with Gary and now taking the piss out of chavtastic Kelly. It seemed a little harsh calling Kelly a chav, but her accent didn't help. It wasn't even qualified English, she had actually invented her own accent so in a way she deserved a little pat on the back. Little being the fundamental word, since she looks the type that may mistake it for a slap and cave your skull in.

"What about you, Weird Kid?" Curly had now moved onto his next target, Simon. "Don't take this the wrong way or anything but you look like a panty sniffer." For added effect, Curly felt the need to mime sniffing some abnormally large knickers.

"I'm not a panty sniffer," Simon said in a quavering voice, slowly looking up at Curly. "I'm not a pervert."

This clearly wasn't an acceptable answer for the Irishman, as he then proceeded to wank off his paintbrush, noises thrown into the performance. Amber raised an eyebrow. This guy enjoyed the attention, that was obvious, but the thing that got her the most was his lack of mortification, even in his situation and the fact he looked like a dirty mop with a glow stick handle.

"I tried to burn someone's house down!"

Amber glanced at the pale boy opposite her, who wore a glare that could only be described as deadly. She suddenly had second thoughts on Simon being good company. Curly let out a squeaky laugh and turned away. Kelly took this as a chance to question him.

"What did ya do?"

"Me?" The Irishman said, his face showing very little of the innocence of what his voice projected. "I was done for, uh, eating some pick n' mix."

"Sounds unlikely." Amber spoke up, catching the curly-haired lads attention.

"What's that? You speak? I was getting a little worried you were like Freddy Krueger over there." He said, pointing a skinny finger at Simon.

Amber looked at Simon then back at Curly and smirked. "Insulting a guy who's been done for Arson may not be the best idea, especially with the look he just gave you. Better make sure your windows and doors are shut tonight."

Simon stared at her blankly for a moment, but cracked what Amber guessed was a small smile. Inside that creepy, disturbingly neat and shaky exterior was a normal lad with a sense of humour. Obviously he suffered from a severe personality disorder. It was weird, Amber was usually the type to take the piss out of people, but Simon reminded her of a bush baby. Although the eyes are slightly creepy, it's still strangely adorable.

"Oh, so you're in love with him?" Curly scoffed. "I have to say love, I expected you to have better taste."

Amber snorted and tilted her head to the side. "So because I stick up for the poor kid, I immediately love him? Excuse me for being a nice person."

"Nice people don't get community service."

"Twats don't get community service for eating pick n' mix."

Curly opened his mouth to probably make some wise crack comment, but was abruptly interrupted by a growl of thunder. Amber stood up and glanced at the sky to see ash grey clouds creeping their way over the group at an unnatural speed. The estate on which the community centre was situated was depressing enough without it being emphasised by England's crap weather.

"What is going on with this weather?" Curly said to no-one in particular.

Amber was still watching the sky when Tony came over to the group, moaning about something or other. She wasn't listening, mainly because she wasn't interested in anything authority figures had to say, it didn't mean jack shit to her. They thought that because they had earned all their merit badges for the cunt clan they knew it all. They knew fuck all. Half the time they didn't have a clue what they were on about and go on like they've never done anything wrong. What bullshit.

She was brought out of her thoughts by a loud crash. She whirled round to see a car completely caved in by a great chunk of ice. It suddenly hit her how cold it had got in the matter of seconds, and she stuffed her hands in her pockets.

"That's my car!" Tony said grievously.

"Well, I hope you have insurance, because it's fucked."

"Classic." Nathan grinned.

Another abnormally large chunk of ice crashed down behind them, the impact sending water splashing over the young offenders, soaking them through. Amber's eyes darted around the group, seeing her own freaked out expression mirrored back to her on all of their faces. All except for Simon, who seemed thoroughly interested in what was happening since he had his mobile out and was filming the whole thing. Strange kid.

He let out a yelp as more ice came flying down from the darkening clouds and crashing into a bin next to him, effectively making him leap away from it. Amber felt her heart beat quicken. Whatever this was, it wasn't normal. All of a sudden, ice began to bullet down from the sky and without a second thought, they all sprinted towards the community centre.

Amber had always been terrible at running, or at any form of sport or exercise really, that's why she had skipped all PE lessons at school. Now, in a situation such as this, she fucking wished she hadn't. The community centre seemed so far away, and with all of the sounds around the group ringing in her ears; the car alarms, the smashing of windows, concrete being broken- she couldn't deny the fact she was a bit scared. She'd guessed that her heartbeat was now triple it's normal speed, at least that's how it felt.

She was the last to reach the community centre, and she was only in time to hear Alisha's panicked order for Tony to open the door when they were all lifted off their feet, sending them all hurtling backwards. A blinding hot pain struck her body, making every nerve stand on end, every muscle contract until it was rock solid, made her head pound and her eyes roll to the back of her head. The sudden encounter with the ground snatched her breath, but the agonizing pain that previously ran through her body was gone as fast as it had come. She tentatively opened her eyes and moved her limbs.

_I've just been hit by lightning. I've just been hit by lightning. I've just been hit by lightning._

No matter how many times you say that sentence, it still sounds like bullshit. Yet, it wasn't. It was true, and with the looks of the twitchy figures beside her, they'd all survived. Well, if miracles didn't exist before, they did now. Amber carefully pushed herself up onto her elbows as Kelly spoke.

"I feel really weird."

"That'll be the lightning."

"Good observation, Mr Olympics." Amber said sarcastically. "Is everyone alive and okay?"

"We should be dead." Simon said tepidly.

"Way to put a positive spin on the situation, Simon." She huffed.

"A little reassurance would be nice, you know." Curly said groggily to Tony. "You're fine! Looking good!"

"W-wanker." Tony mumbled, his face having multiple spasms. Amber raised her eyebrows, but couldn't hide the bark of laughter that escaped her lips.

"Did he just call me a wanker?"

"Brilliant." Amber laughed.

The probation worker started spasming again. There was something very wrong with him. Not that she didn't think there wasn't anything wrong with him in the first place- you must be a little fucked in the head if you want to be a probation worker, where's the joy in watching adolescents pick up litter for hours? Sad bastard.  
No, there was something else wrong. He had that tension set in his jaw, the one you get when you have the urge to slap some bitch in the face and a weird glaze over his eyes.

"Is everyone alright?" he asked weakly, gingerly sitting in an upright position.

"We could have died, you dick." Alisha snapped.

"Are _you_ awright?" Kelly asked Tony, her head tipped on one side. Tony groaned, his face contorted. "Ya actin' like a freak."

He looked at them all, shuffling in his place. "Maybe we should call it a day."

* * *

If hangover's were bad, they were nothing compared to this blinding headache that Amber now had. It felt like her noggin had been introduced to a brick wall repeatedly. Although, it was worth it to get out of this place faster. She unzipped her jumpsuit and slid out of it, pulling on her jeans and t-shirt before shoving the orange monstrosity into her locker. She slammed the door shut, revealing Curly who had been stood behind it, eyeballing her with a lewd grin.

"You know," Amber started, pulling on her jacket. "Calling Simon a pervert when you've probably just watched me getting changed is what I call more than a bit hypocritical."

"Well, it's only fair after such a traumatic experience that I get some sort of treat," He growled flirtatiously, his grin unwavering. "And I must say love, that is a cracking pair of panties."

"Oh, I didn't know you were into the cross-dressing thing," Amber smirked. "I'm sorry, but these are my favourites, but I'll buy you a pair for Christmas, yeah?"

Curly chuckled and leant against her locker. "What's the name, love?"

"Amber, and yours?"

"Nathan," He waggled his eyebrows. "Why? So you know what to scream later?"

"Oh, there won't be any screaming at all, since what's going through your filthy mind will not be happening." Amber said, patting him on the back and heading for the door.

"Your loss, Princess."

Amber left the community centre and strolled across the path towards her estate, mulling over the events of her first day of community service. It wasn't exactly what she had expected- it's not every day you get struck by lightning and it suddenly rains icebergs. Still, she wasn't dead and she got out of community service for the day.

She clambered up the steps of her block and unlocked the door to her flat. Her flat wasn't so bad, really. Admitted it was cramped and it had damp, but what else did you want when you had little money and this was the cheapest flat to get in a hurry after you've been kicked out?  
She collapsed onto her shoddy, second-hand sofa as soon as she entered. Getting drunk would have been first on the list after a day like this, but she had work in a few hours with Pervy Pete, and being completely sloshed wouldn't be a smart plan with him around. She sighed heavily and closed her eyes. If she couldn't get pissed, she could at least get some sleep.

Surely her dreams couldn't be as fucked up as reality.

* * *

**A/N: Hey! I hope you like this. I've had inspiration from other Nathan/OC's and I thought I'd have a go. I absolutely love Misfits!  
I'd love to know whether I should carry on with this, because if you do like it, I'll finish it and in later chapters you'll find out more about Amber, her background and of course- what her power is! So, please review! It's greatly appreciated!  
Thanks!**


	2. I'm Going To Kill You

**Chapter 2 - I'm Going To Kill You  
**

* * *

A piercing and endless beeping awoke Amber the next morning. She groaned, pulling the covers over her face to block out as much of the noise as possible but without any success.

"Shut up! Shut up, shut up, shut up!" Amber growled, rolling onto her stomach so that the covers wrapped around her body and trapped her. "Ah fuck."

She squirmed inside her bed sheet cocoon, trying to get free but instead sending herself tumbling off the bed and hitting the ground with a hard thump. When she eventually got free, she smashed her hand against the alarm clock that flashed 6.27 AM, finally silencing it.

She stumbled lazily to her bathroom, slipped off her pyjamas and turned on the shower. She stood aimlessly as the cool liquid sprayed her, gradually getting warmer the longer the shower ran. She didn't really know what to do with herself. She felt distant, even with the now boiling hot water scalding her pale skin, marking it with pink patches. There was just one subject that pressed at her mind and it was the events that had occurred yesterday. Only, it wasn't just what had happened at community service that was playing on repeat in her head. Oh no, it was also what had happened at work just a few hours after.

After finishing up in the shower, she dried herself off and stood in front of the grimy mirror that hung above the cracked porcelain sink. To her, the deep creases between her eyebrows, the dark shadows underneath her eyes, and the slight swelling on her bottom lip from chewing it was enough to confirm how shit she felt. She raked a brush through her damp hair and applied her make-up generously, masking the evidence. After pulling on her clothes, grabbing her bag and brushing her teeth vigorously, she made her way to the community centre.

She knew she was early, but the crisp morning air was like a sedative for her thoughts and sent a calming wave inside her. It gave her time to clear her head before having to survive several hours of picking up shit and listening to people whine about picking up shit. Then again, maybe her fellow offenders felt like she did; exhausted, troubled and in desperate need for some alcohol intoxication. Maybe even a spliff or two.

None of it seemed to make sense. She'd been given community service, got struck by lightening and then things got weird. If weird even fit's the bill, maybe more along the lines of considerably fucked up. She crossed the small patch of grass that lay in the middle of her neighboring estate, her body shivering slightly as she remembered what had happened the night before.  
She walked across the green every night to get to and from her job at Sainsbury's and it had been the same as it had always been, quiet and dimly lit. She'd got in and did her job. During a quick cigarette break with Nicole was the first time it happened. They'd been chatting and was about to cross the road to go back inside when a buzzing sound had erupted in Amber's ears. She had shook her head to try and get rid of it, but while doing that she caught sight of a car speeding towards them and pulled Nicole out of the way mere seconds before it sped passed. After that, they'd gone in, finished their shift and went home.

That's when it happened again. She'd been walking over the grass to go home when she felt it all wash over her at once. Her breathing became rapid, her throat tightened and became dry, she had shooting pains and the same horrendous buzzing in her ears. It was then she'd heard the footsteps, and managed to move split seconds before a hooded figure went to hit her in the back of the head. Then she ran, and didn't stop until she was safely back in her flat. Either she was just very lucky or she was getting symptoms of tinnitus.

She pushed open the doors to the community centre and was headed in the direction of the changing room when she heard a voice mumbling in the rec room. She walked in silently and went towards the voice, it was only when she got to one of the pillars that she recognized the mop of curly hair and the soft, Irish accent. At first, Amber thought Nathan was talking to the vending machine, but then she noticed the phone in his hand.

"So, I just want you to know, there's no hard feelings," Nathan said, pressing his head to the vending machine. "I forgive you, you made your point. Point made. So lets stop all this nonsense, hey? I'll come round and we'll hug, and you'll cry, and I'll move back in. Sorted, everybody's a winner. Anyway so… Call me, yeah? I'll be expecting your call."

Amber stepped out from behind the pillar, looking at the mildly hurt expression across the Irish boys face. Whatever that phone call was about, he didn't look all that convinced it was going to work. He pushed a button on the vending machine and took the chocolate bar that fell. He turned and jumped when he noticed Amber.

"Jesus, are you trying to give me a heart attack?" He breathed, placing a hand on his chest.

"Sorry," Amber said. "So, I take it you've been kicked out by… whoever?"

"What makes you say that?"

"Well, you're here early and you don't strike me as the 'early-bird' type… and the fact that I walked in while you were on the phone."

"It's rude to eavesdrop, you know," Nathan snapped, shoving his phone and chocolate bar in his pocket. "And no, I wasn't kicked out."

She crossed her arms in disbelief, and he studied her for a moment before speaking again.

"Me and my dear mum had a minor disagreement about a few things at home, but we'll be all fine and dandy."

"That sounds familiar," Amber snorted, leaning against the pillar. "So, where are you staying?"

Nathan dropped his gaze from her face and turned back to the vending machine, apparently looking for another chocolate bar. It was obvious he was trying to get out of the conversation.

Amber shrugged and made her way to the door before Nathan called out to her. "What do you mean 'sounds familiar'?"

She turned to see him walking towards her, eating a chocolate bar. As he reached her, he handed her the other one that he had put in his pocket and eyed her curiously.

"My mum kicked me out, too." Amber said, tearing the wrapper. "I was badly behaved."

She took a bite out of the chocolate. Okay, so that was a bit of an understatement. She'd got in with the wrong crowd and started to get rebellious, which led to her getting into all sorts of trouble. In the end her mother just couldn't cope. She could hardly blame her, the way things had gone she was surprised she hadn't been kicked out sooner.

"Badly behaved?" Nathan asked suddenly, a bawdy grin now gracing his face. "How naughty are you, hm?"

"Shut up."

"Okay, okay," Amber watched as his expression turned somewhat serious, which - up until a second ago - he had done quiet a good job at being. "Look, If I tell you where I'm staying will you keep it from the other ASBO shit-heads?"

Amber nodded, but he didn't look convinced.

"Promise?"

"Promise."

* * *

Amber was half expecting him to say that he'd shared an alley with a hobo, but he didn't. Instead, he told her that he had spent the night in the community centre. He'd taken her up to his makeshift bedroom on the balcony in the rec room, which consisted of a weedy looking mattress and a bag for a pillow. There were a couple of other bags that rested behind it and she'd offered to help take them down to the locker room. She'd noticed the weary glances he gave her on the way down, and it began to get on her nerves.

"You don't trust me, do you?"

"I never said that," Nathan said, not looking at her. "I'm just not sure whether you'll keep quiet or end up broadcasting my homelessness to the rest of them."

"So you don't trust me," she rolled her eyes in frustration. "Listen, it's none of my business or theirs where you sleep at night. I thought since I'd walked in on your conversation, I'd help you out a little. So how about this, I'm just going to help you put your shit away and then we'll speak no more of it. Deal?"

He shrugged and pushed open the door to the changing room. It actually pissed her off a little that he didn't trust her, but she could understand why. He'd only just met her, he didn't know her enough to trust her yet. He headed towards the lockers that were lined against the back of the room and unlocked one in the corner. He tried to push his bags into it, but seemed to have a bit of trouble.

"Struggling?"

Nathan spun around, his face screwed up. He kicked the bag into the locker and cracked her a smile. "I'm just fine, love."

When they'd finished, they made their way outside. Amber took the normal route through the entrance, while Nathan took the window. She was going to ask why, but decided against it. They walked to the back of the community centre to be met by the others looking at the words 'I'M GOING TO KILL YOU' graffitied on the wall in red spray paint.

"This is a joke, did one of you do this?" Curtis asked.

Amber stood beside Simon and eyed the wall with distaste. Whoever did this really shouldn't pursue a career as a comedian, because quite frankly, their jokes were shit.

"Don't look at me, 'coz I didn't do it." Kelly snapped.

"I tell you who did it," Nathan piped up, taking a cigarette out his mouth. "It's that Banksy prick, there's a hidden meaning. It's like that monkey policeman with a  
banana and a Tesco's bag." He added, draping an arm around Simon.

"The meaning looks pretty clear to me." Amber said.

"Maybe someone wants to kill us." Simon muttered, shrugging off Nathan.

Kelly looked at him as if he was an idiot. "An' why wud anybody want ta kill us?"

It was then that Tony turned up, looking reputably better than yesterday. He went on to have a quick dig at them about anti-social behaviour before Alisha's phone rang and he went in a hissy fit. He demanded them to give him their phones and after Amber reluctantly gave him hers, she followed the others into the changing room.

"Is he allowed to take our phones?" Nathan asked, opening his locker. "I bet he's gonna call one of them sex lines."

"Those sex lines will eat your credit." Curtis said, his tone matter-of-fact.

Alisha turned slightly, readjusting the collar on her jumpsuit. "Call them a lot do you?"

Amber was sat on the bench beside her locker, and she caught the look between Curtis and Alisha. She had a feeling that Alisha might make a move on someone, and Curtis seemed the prime target. He was muscular and pompous, and Alisha was a self-absorbed tart. In all fairness, she was pissed at Alisha because it was her fault they didn't have their phones but so far, with what she'd seen, maybe her opinion wasn't that far from the truth.

Amber hadn't realised she'd been staring in front of her, and unfortunately, in front of her happened to be a topless Nathan. He grinned at her and winked.

"Like what you see?"

Amber blinked and shook her head slowly. "Not really, you're too scrawny for my liking."

"Scrawny?" Nathan raised his eyebrow, looking mildly offended. "I'll tell you love, the ladies have never complained about my beautiful body!" Amber snorted as he ran his hands up and down his torso, biting his lip.

"Please, save yourself the humiliation and put the jumpsuit on."

* * *

They were instructed to scrub the graffiti off the wall. It didn't even occur to her that they'd be cleaning it off when they were looking at it, but least her suspicions on Alisha had been correct. She'd done fuck all aside from sunbathe with everything on show since they'd got outside. Curtis wasn't much help either, he was producing more water in his mouth by surveying Alisha's breasts than he was putting on that scrubbing brush and cleaning off the graffiti.

"Ya know after tha storm, did any o' ya feel dead weird?" Kelly asked.

Amber stiffened. She knew she'd put it down to luck, but last nights events weighed down on her like a ton of bricks. The sound she had heard had happened before Nicole had nearly been hit by a car and before she'd been attacked, and had gone as soon as she'd pulled Nicole out of the road and when she'd legged it back to her flat. The noise came seconds before the danger both times, and that was what freaked her out the most.

"Yeah," Nathan answered, and the group looked at him with interest. "I had a strange tingling sensation in my anus."

Amber and the others groaned and resumed scrubbing. The guy really couldn't take anything seriously.

"Did you feel weird?" Kelly repeated, her attention now on Simon. Amber gave him a quick glimpse, but the hesitant look on his face made her look again. There was something in his face that gave her the assumption that he had, and she wasn't wrong.

"Something happened-"

"What's that? Squeak up!" Nathan interrupted.

"S-Something happened to me-"

"Are you a virgin? Hi-hiii!"

"SHUT UP!" Kelly and Amber growled simultaneously.

They looked back to Simon expectantly, but with the looks of it he'd been drained of confidence and had started scrubbing again. Amber glared at Nathan. Poor Simon, he'd finally mustered the confidence to talk and that prick had gone and pushed him right back to square one. All of a sudden, Kelly pushed past her and shoved Nathan hard in the side before storming off.

"What was that for!" He cried.

Amber moved to where Kelly was working and looked at Simon. She knew that he could see her looking at him, but he was obviously too embarrassed to speak.

"What happened, Simon?"

His wide, blue eyes looked into hers briefly before looking back at the wall. "It doesn't matter."

Amber was interested, but she wasn't going to push him anymore. She turned back to the wall and started scrubbing.

* * *

The group decided to take a break. Since Kelly hadn't returned and she wasn't particularly fond of Alisha, Amber had gone into the rec room with the boys, who immediately crowded the football table while she headed over to the vending machine.

"It's a shame more women don't commit crime. Why is that?" Nathan started, playing against Curtis on the football table, while Simon stood and spectated. "Must say though, we got lucky."

"Why's that?" Curtis asked, eyes still on the game.

"Three of us, and three of them. One for each of us." Nathan waggled his eyebrows, then glanced at Simon. "Bit of luck for you, Weird Kid."

"There was four of us." Simon said.

Amber looked at him puzzled for a moment before she clicked. Gary. She hadn't even noticed his absence, but she wasn't surprised. He hadn't exactly made an impact, unless you count the paint can he'd kicked into the river the day before.

"I'm talking about getting laid!" Nathan huffed, giving Simon a look. Amber pressed the button on the vending machine and stifled a snort. This guy was fucking unbelievable. "So, how we gonna do this man?"

Curtis raised an eyebrow. "Do what?"

"Obviously Nathan over here is asking who's going to be shagging who." Amber said to Curtis, taking her Salt and Vinegar crisps from the vending machine and walked over to the boys.

"Of course," Nathan grinned. "So, my friend, which one?"

"We're not some fucking take-your-pick prizes from a fairground ride." Amber said indignantly.

"I gotta tell you," Nathan began, ignoring her. "The one with the frizzy hair? I don't see me and her getting it on."

"Coz she's beautiful?" Curtis snickered.

"No, because she'd be way too much effort. She looks seriously high maintenance, man. You'd have to treat her really well."

"Yeah, I can see that being a problem for you." Amber didn't try to hide the snort this time. Nathan looked at her and licked his lips, and she suddenly wished she had.

"But her-"

"Amber." Simon said softly.

"Amber," Nathan bit his lip and circled her. "Yeah, this one's a possibility. Good height, reasonably attractive and she has a cute arse."

"Piss off." Amber hissed.

Nathan beamed. "And she has an attitude. Girl's with attitudes are usually a good shag."

"Dickhead."

"Then there's always the other one. A couple of Bacardi Breezers and I'd reckon she'd be good to go."

Amber rolled her eyes and walked out of the room into the corridor. The amount of time men spoke and thought about sex was ridiculous. What was it with them? She saw Alisha sat on the sofa, and to avoid conversation, Amber took a magazine from the pile on the table and sat down beside her. Much to her displeasure, the boys entered the room a few minutes later.

Great. So avoiding conversation was now out. She savoured the few minutes of silence before the subject of Curtis' criminal activities was brought up by Alisha. The papers had said a whirlwind of bullshit about Curtis and what he had done to get community service, but according to the man himself, he had been found with a bit of coke and due to his profile, he'd landed himself on community service.

Nathan and Alisha took great pleasure in winding him up, to the point that Curtis nearly lamped Nathan in the mouth, which would have made fairly good viewing if he had. The subject then went onto Alisha and what she did, which got them the dullest, long-winded story about her drink driving and her basically molesting a breathalyzer. Amber didn't even need to look at the boys to know that they probably had their tongues hanging out, the dirty bastards. Amber snorted when she turned and saw she was right, which got her a glare from Alisha.

"What about you?" she asked Amber.

"Being drunk and disorderly." she said.

"I thought you just get fined for that?"

"Usually, but when you mouth off to a copper and try to kick the car in, apparently it doesn't go unnoticed."

The group laughed, and as Amber put the magazine in her hand on the table, Kelly burst through the front doors of the community centre, her face fixed with a petrified expression.

"'e's gonna kill us!"

That's when the buzzing started.

* * *

**A/N: So that's Chapter 2! I hope you like it, let me know what you think!  
What are your impressions on Amber's power? It's a tricky one to do, but I quite like it and the reason she has it will be explained in later chapters. Also, I'm glad that people like the friendship between Simon and Amber. There is actually a reason why Amber stands up for him, which I'll show later on in the story.  
Anyway, make sure you review so that I know people are enjoying the story. Your imput is a great part of making this story the best it can be!**


	3. Danger, Danger!

**Chapter 3 - Danger, Danger!**

* * *

It was like a fly buzzing around her head- it was faint but it was there, and that was what scared her. So far, everything that had followed the static humming in her ears had been bad. She watched as Kelly scrambled to the door she'd just burst through and bolted it shut with trembling hands. That wasn't reassuring her in the slightest. In fact, that only resulted in scaring the absolute shit out of her. Something was clearly wrong, and the fact that the buzzing was faint only made it worse... How wrong was wrong?

"Tha probation worker's gone mental. 'E's just attacked me!" Kelly rambled breathlessly. "Somethin' really weird is happenin'. I'm hearin' these voices in me head. It's like I can hear wot other people are finkin'!"

Amber's head felt like she'd just been put on a super speed waltzer ride. She would have thought it was bullshit- Heck, she desperately wanted to think it was bullshit- but that buzzing was telling her otherwise. It was amplifying as time progressed and she felt as if bright, neon lights were flashing in front of her eyes, telling her what she hoped wasn't true. Something fucking awful was going to happen- and soon.

She tuned back into the group and glanced at them all. None of them- aside from Kelly- seemed very distressed. Well, perhaps she was, but she didn't really know how she felt. The situation was way too bizarre to even consider thinking about.

"What do you mean the probation worker attacked you?" Curtis asked, looking at her in disbelief.

"This does sound like complete shit," Alisha added.

"He is out there n' he chased me! Kelly exclaimed, now looking slightly deranged.

Amber was about to interrupt and back up Kelly's story when Simon piped up, repeating his earlier sentence that something had happened to him too. Amber felt a rush of pride towards the shy lad.

"Earlier on, when we were in the locker room…" Simon paused, looking around at them as if contemplating to tell them something that would make him appear insane. She suddenly wished she'd spoken first, this was probably just going to give Nathan more ammo to his machine gun of bullshit. "I was invisible. I turned invisible."

Invisibility. Telepathy. Random buzzing noise that wouldn't shut the fuck up. Well, shit. If the probation worker had overheard this the three of them would probably have a one way ticket to the nuthouse. Then again, with what Kelly had told them, it sounds like he'd be joining them.

"So, she's psychic and you can turn invisible?" Curtis snorted. "That seems likely."

"Yeah," Nathan started, pointing at Simon. "Did anyone witness this miraculous disappearance?"

Simon's cheeks coloured, his eyes flickered over the group and his tone turned desperate. "You were all there. I was standing right there, you couldn't see me."

"Alright," Nathan said, not trying to hide the clear disbelief painted on his face and wheeled over to Simon. "Go on then. Do it. Turn invisible."

Simon stared at him for a moment and Amber grinned. Oh, this was going to teach the cocky bastard for being so hard on the poor kid. Simon glanced at her, and she gestured for him to go ahead. She could hardly wait to see the looks on their faces.

Or not. The anticipated boy-turning-invisible never happened. Instead, Simon had stood there with his eyes wide and his jaw clenched tight, making straining noises. If anything, he looked as if he was in great need of the toilet. Amber's grin faded.

"Oh my god," Nathan gasped. "He's disappeared!"

Amber decided in that moment that Nathan was a twat. A horrible, rude, impulsive twat. It seemed impossible for him to remain serious for more than a minute. His little charade's finale was throwing his can at Simon's head and exclaiming "You're invisible!"

"You two are hilarious, really," he said moving towards the entrance. "keep taking that medication."

Amber watched as Kelly dived in his way. She suddenly remembered the buzzing, it now considerably louder than before, and it was then that it finally hit her. The noise occurring before something that could potentially cause damage and disappearing when it was prevented or the hazard was gone. She could sense danger, and the noise was the sensor. Suddenly, the realization washed over her and filled her with an immense panic. Something was going to happen.

"Don't!"

"She's telling the truth!" Amber shouted, but someone else had shouted it too. She looked around in confusion and saw that it was Curtis, who was looking at her with the same confused look.

Nathan chuckled, and went over to the pair. "Oh dear, so you've caught the crazy disease too. You know this how? I suppose you're psychics aswell?"

"All this, it's already happened once," Curtis panted, his face oozing sweat. "I opened the door. The probation worker… he killed you." Looking at Kelly, his face contorted with a mixture of fear and disgust. "You were right there. You were dead. Everything froze. You were all just standing there. Time went backwards."

"What are you saying, that you turned back time?" Alisha questioned, still looking sceptical.

Curtis made to carry on, but Amber's ears were violently buzzing now and she couldn't cope. She closed her eyes tight and gripped her head, shaking it furiously to try and rid herself of the noise but it was impossible. It wouldn't go away. She opened her eyes, and saw that the group gaze was fixed on her.

"Are you having a fit?" Nathan asked, his head on one side. "Because if you are, now isn't the right time-"

"Something's going to happen," Amber snapped. The noise was agony now, and it was still getting louder. "I can sense it. This noise, this buzzing sound- it happens before something dangerous."

"Danger intuition." Simon said, suddenly. "Like spider-man."

"So you have spidey senses?" Nathan cackled. "Jesus, this just keeps getting better."

Nathan got up and went towards the door, ignoring the protests from Amber, Curtis and Kelly. His ridiculous smile ceased when he opened the door, and changed to a look of pure horror. He slammed it shut and rebolted the door.

"They're right!" he cried. "The probation worker's gone mental!"

* * *

Amber's blue eyes fixed on the silhouette in the window, unable to look away. His pounding on the door matched the pounding in her chest. She couldn't hear the other's, the buzzing was still persisting to tell her there was danger. No shit, she was staring right at it. There was something in Tony's hands- a weapon. They were well and truly fucked.

"We should call the police!"

"He took our phones. He's got all our phones." Simon said, weakly.

Amber let out a long breath. Well, Mr Fuck-Over had done it again. They really couldn't catch a break. Silence washed over them all for a few moments. Suddenly, Amber furrowed her brow. Silence? Then she noticed; the buzzing, the probation workers attempt to break in-

"It's stopped." Curtis said. He was right, everything had stopped. Everything except for the overwhelming sense of fear that didn't seem to budge.

"The buzzing has too." Amber muttered, and the group sighed deeply in what she guessed was relief. It seemed they counted on this more than anything.

A few moments of silence filled the room. She didn't need Kelly's telepathy to know exactly what they were all thinking. _Was he gone? Were they safe? _The only answer she could come up with was simply _I fucking hope so._

"You dickhead!" Alisha spat at Kelly. "Why did ya come back here? You should have gone for help!"

"Wot do you know, bitch." Kelly hissed.

Alisha rolled her eyes. "Shut up, you chav."

Kelly's eyes flashed with rage. That was the wrong thing to say. "Ya know if ya call me a chav one more time, I'll kick ya so hard in the cunt, your mum'll feel it."

Amber smirked as Alisha shuffled backwards, distancing herself from Kelly. It was hardly fair for her to lay blame on Kelly, especially since Alisha was the reason none of them had their phones. She really needed to become familiar with the 'silent' profile on her phone.

"Her mum'll feel it?" Nathan furrowed his brow, apparently trying to work this out. "How does that work?

"Shut up, you twat." Amber shook her head, sighing.

"He tried ta kill me!" Kelly shouted. "I came back to warn you lot and I coulda left ya! I'm sick ov every single one of ya judgin' me- ya can just fuck off!"

"Look, I'm not being funny everyone, but arguing over pointless shit isn't going to mask the fact that our probation worker is out there in a seriously bad mood, and wants to _fucking kill us_." Amber emphasised the last bit, just to slam it into their clearly undeveloped brains that there was more important things to worry about than kicking people in the cunt.

"Whatever, I'm getting out of here." Alisha said hastily, spinning around and running to the exit.

"Yeah, out the back way!" Nathan ordered, everyone except for Amber followed. She was rooted to the spot, because the buzzing had faintly started again. Nathan turned, noticing she hadn't moved, and tugged her arm. "Come on!"

"It's started again." She muttered, looking at Nathan.

Concern flashed on his face for a second, before quickly disguising it with a frown. "Come on."

He pulled her along, his hand firmly gripped around her wrist. They sped down the corridor, a wave of dizziness washing over her. The dread of knowing that something else was about to happen was probably creeping up on her. She felt herself suddenly being yanked to the ground by Nathan, the impact of her back against the floor winding her.

"The fuck-"  
_  
_"Is that blood?"

Amber sat bolt upright, and looked around at where she had landed. She'd luckily missed it, but Nathan hadn't. He was lying in a puddle of the crimson liquid, his hands and jumpsuit covered. When the realisation hit him that he was lying in someone's blood, he got to his feet and frantically tried to get it off, gagging and cursing in the process.

Simon helped Amber to her feet and pulled her out of the way of Curtis, who took ponderous steps forward. There was a bloody trail in front of one of the lockers. Amber glanced up at it, and felt her stomach lurch when she saw more blood dribbling out of the lockers vents. The situation being fucked up had long since passed that stage, now it was in a league of its own. Curtis took hold of the latch, his breathing rapid. He tore it open, and the room filled with screams.

It was Gary.

* * *

No-one spoke. They just stared at the corpse of the once gobby wannabe. The seventh member of the group of young offenders. Now there was six. Amber could almost hear Tony's crazed thoughts; _One down, six to go.  
_  
"He's gonna kill us." Alisha whimpered.

"Turn back time," Nathan said to Curtis. "Stop this happening."

"I don't know how it works!"

"Oh that's great!" Nathan's voice was bitter, but the fear cracked through. "That's really useful!"

Amber looked at him. His face was hard, but the slight pastiness of his skin was enough to tell that he was afraid. This was the first time he'd actually remained serious. Beside him was Simon, who's plate-sized eyes hadn't moved from Gary's lifeless body, as if he was going to spring up and say "Got ya!" at any moment. A small part of Amber wished that he would.

"I've got to have sex with you right now!"

Amber spun round, her eyebrows raised in surprise. Curtis was holding Alisha's arm, his eyes dark and filled with lust. "You're so beautiful. Let's go! Let's do it now, raw!"

"Get off me, you freak!" she squealed, shoving him away.

"What?" he said, looking flustered and confused.

Alisha's face was full of burning repulsion. She raised her arm to smack him but Curtis was too quick for her and grabbed her wrist, sending him back into his sexual frenzy. He growled more obscenities at her as he fumbled with his jumpsuit, but Alisha got herself free again leaving Curtis dazed and more confused than before.

"What did I do?"

"Er, ya said you was gonna shag her." Kelly said, looking slightly amused.

"And you were getting your chap out!" Nathan grinned, indicating to Curtis' private area - which wouldn't have been so private if Alisha hadn't broke free.

"It was when you were touching her." Simon told them quietly.

Alisha stared at her hands, horrified. Trembling, she turned them over as if she were contemplating ways to get rid of them. She glanced up at Simon, who was now standing next to her, and quickly pressed a hand to his neck.

Immediately, the same frenzy Curtis had experienced happened to Simon. They watched as his muscles tightened, his pallid skin making his now dark and bulging veins prominent. With Curtis, the outburst seemed comical, but with Simon it was downright creepy. If people thought he was weird before, saying he wanted to piss on Alisha's tits was not going to do him many favours, and Amber felt sorry for him.

Alisha dropped her hand, staggering back. "What is happening to me?!"

"You sick bastard." Nathan said, eyeing him with disgust, but the amusement in his voice was clear.

Amber went to smack him, but instead redirected her hands to her head, the buzzing now screaming for her attention. Nathan's eyes flickered to her, and his face filled with panic.

"Shit," Nathan grabbed her by the shoulders, shaking her frantically. "What's wrong? What's happening? Where is he?"

Amber went to push him away, but something caught her eye. The dark shadow in the window of the door, shaped into a broad, human figure. Her heart hammered against her chest, desperate to get out.

"Run!"

They didn't have time to ask any questions as the window shattered into pieces, glass splinters flying in all directions and the probation worker landed hard on the ground. Amber felt herself get yanked away, but her eyes were fixed on the man on the floor. He growled at them in rage, and raised his head. His eyes were completely glazed, irises bleached of colour and filled with hate. He wasn't a man - he was a monster.

He made to grab the metal bar that had allowed him access to the centre but Kelly got there first, smashing a paint can into his skull. A sickening crack echoed around them, and he collapsed to the ground and went still. Amber felt hands grip her shoulder, and turned to see Nathan's petrified face staring down at the probation worker.

"Is he dead?" Alisha muttered weakly.

"Well, I'm no doctor," Nathan said. "but you see the way the back of his head is caved in like that?"

Suddenly, the probation worker raised his head and started yelling. He wasn't dead. The group screamed and backed away, all except for Kelly, who's foot was locked in the grasp of the probation worker. She began stamping repeatedly on his head, screaming something that Amber couldn't make out. Eventually she stopped, and her face was riddled with a sudden realisation; she'd just murdered their probation worker. Amber's tongue filled with a bitter metallic taste, the smell in the room was almost identical, and it made her want to gag.

Nathan's hands had left Amber's shoulders and were now tightly gripping his curly hair. "That should do it."

Alisha stared at Kelly in shock. "You killed our probation worker."

Amber paid no attention to the continuous rambling that came from the rest of them, she just stared at the body. The statement echoed in her mind. _You killed our probation worker. _She hadn't killed him, but she'd watched. She was half expecting him to wake up again, but who'd survive an attack like that? He was most definitely dead.

"If there's no body, there's no crime." Simon said, using the heel of his palm to flatten his hair.

Amber raised her head. "You mean, we bury them?"

He nodded. "Under the flyover."

"Yeah?" Alisha laughed without humour. "How do you suppose we do that? Someone's gonna see us."

"No, no, no, no," Nathan said suddenly. "we just give 'em a little -" he whistled, indicating to clean them up. "We put them in those wheelchairs, we wheel them up there, and if anybody sees us, we're just a bunch of young offenders taking a couple of specials for a walk in the sunshine!"

They stared at him. Nathan had - surprisingly - come up with a good idea, and that's what they did. They cleaned up the bodies as best they could, and put them into the wheelchairs. Amber had offered to get the shovels since she wouldn't go near a wheelchair, they were a painful reminder of one particular calamity she tried hard to push out of her mind. It took them ten minutes or so to get down to the flyover, trying to avoid anyone if they could help it. There was nothing they could do now but bury the corpses and hope that they didn't get caught.

The digging process was agony. They dug as fast as they could, but fast didn't seem fast enough. Although it was warm outside, Amber was shivering. Being in the company of two dead bodies wasn't the most comforting thing. Eventually, they dumped Gary and Tony into the makeshift grave and went straight into covering them. They'd really gotten themselves in a mess.

"I'm pretty sure that this breaches the terms of my ASBO."

"You think?" she growled at Nathan's attempt to break the tension, which had failed miserably.

"We don't tell anyone about this yeah?" Kelly instructed. "About the storm or what it did to us or anyfin'."

"We're about to bury our probation worker," Nathan said, seriously. "This isn't a time when we want to draw any attention to ourselves."

Amber raised her eyebrows. One minute he's making jokes, the next he's talking sense. His personality changes made her head spin more than this situation, but she couldn't help but feel that there was more to him than he allowed them all to see. That maybe he was somewhat normal inside that twatty exterior. Maybe.

"I don't want anyone to know," Alisha snapped, refusing to look at any of them. "I can not be a freak."

"What 'bout you?" Kelly said to Curtis. He stayed quiet, staring around at them blankly.

"There's no going back now man," Nathan said. "You're just as screwed as the rest of us. You're black and famous, which probably makes you more screwed."

Curtis grit his teeth. He looked furious. "I shouldn't even be here."

"Yeah? well you are," Amber hissed. The look on his face made her blood boil, like it was their fault. "So I suggest you learn to face the facts and deal with it."

Curtis pursed his lips, but he said nothing and continued covering the bodies. Amber felt a twinge of guilt for shouting at him, but she was right. His regret wasn't going to do shit, so he had to learn to deal with it instead of whining like a little kid. They were fucked, he was fucked. That's how it was.

The tension was broken yet again by Nathan.

"Didn't you say you wanted to piss on her tits?" Nathan said to Simon, who looked around confused. "Probably best to keep that kind of thing between you and your internet service provider."

Amber shook her head. "Ignore him, Simon."

Simon smiled and looked down, but apparently Nathan wasn't done talking.

"So hold on," Nathan started, leaning against his shovel. "Each of you has some sort of power. _He_," he spat, pointing at Simon. "can do something, _He _can do something and _I _can't? That's not right! I mean, look at him! How does that make any sense?"

"Maybe you can do something," Simon speculated. "You just haven't found out what it is yet."

"Yeah, what if…" Nathan licked his lips, apparently in thought. "What if I can't feel pain?"

Amber laughed as Kelly smacked him around the head. "Did ya feel that?"

He pouted like a child in a tantrum, and went back to shovelling the dirt. It wasn't long until they made their way back to the community centre, Amber walking at the back beside Simon. They cleaned up inside, making doubly sure that all evidence was removed. Then, one by one, they went home.

Amber didn't do anything aside from sit and drink. That was all she seemed capable of. Pouring a drink, downing it, pouring another, downing that. The process went on until she was forced to spend the rest of the night retching into the toilet. It didn't matter how much she drank, the images of Gary and Tony had been burned into her mind, and she saw their faces every time she closed her eyes.

She stumbled into her bedroom and crawled into bed. She'd never felt so alone in her life. She wanted nothing more than for her mum to cuddle her and tell her everything was okay, just like she had when she was younger. That was never going to happen. She'd ruined her relationship with her mum, because she had acted like a complete fucktard. She ruined everything, and now she was paying the price.

* * *

**A/N: There's Chapter 3! I must admit, I'm not that pleased with this chapter seeing as it's quite depressing, but murdering your probation worker isn't meant to be funny. Anyway, I hope you liked it!  
I want to thank you all SO much for reviewing, it truly makes my day and I greatly appreciate it! So please, keep reviewing!  
The next chapter will be up soon, and we'll be moving onto Episode 2- sooooo, i'll see you then folks!**


	4. Meet Sally

**Chapter 4 - Meet Sally**

* * *

_Bzz. Bzz. Bzz._

Amber's eyes shot open in panic, which was an immediate mistake. Rays of sunlight dazzled her, forcing her eyes to shut again. She was vaguely aware of the pounding in her head, the after effects of her binge drinking the night before. She forced herself to sit up, despite her head throbbing in protest. She could hear buzzing, and buzzing was not a good sign. Recent events had told her that. She got to her feet cautiously, cracking an eye open to check around the room for danger, but there was nothing. She waited several moments, but the buzzing had stopped. She sighed heavily and leant against her bedside table. The whole power thing was still something she had to get used to. All of a sudden, she heard the buzzing again and felt the bedside table vibrate, making her leap away in fright. She spun round, her hands balled into fists to prepare for... whatever, but for the second time she saw nothing remotely dangerous. Maybe the flats where about to blow up. Or she had left a cigarette lit. She continued running through all dangerous possibilities until something caught her eye. Her phone was flashing. She released the breath she hadn't realised she was holding and picked it up, feeling like a complete twat. On the screen was the name _Simon_.

They'd taken their phones back before burying Tony, and immediately afterwards they exchanged numbers. Simon, who had been particularly relieved to have his phone back, had said contact after a situation like that was vital, and he wasn't wrong. If anything happened which would risk them being caught, they all needed to know straight away. They always needed to be one step ahead, and that one step could keep them miles away from prison.

Amber picked up her mobile and answered. "What's up, Simon?"

"It's twenty past nine, where are you?"

Amber's face dropped. Twenty past nine? Shit. Shit, shit, shit. Being late to community service the day after killing your probation worker wasn't a great start. Amber hurried over to her wardrobe, pulling out a white top and leggings.

"Shit, is anyone there?"

"It looks like we have a new probation worker," Simon said. He sounded on edge, his voice shaky, but then again, that was common with Simon. "Her name's Sally. She said she wants to talk to all of us. "

Amber felt as if her chest had just been smacked with a baseball bat. "Do you think she knows?"

"Unlikely," Simon tried to reassure her, but there was something in his voice that made it seem like he doubted that. By now, someone would have noticed they were missing, and if thats what she wanted to talk about, it was likely she would be suspicious of them. After all, they were the last to see Tony and Gary. "We covered for you and said you went to the doctors, try to be quick."

"Thanks Simon, see you in a bit." Amber said, and ended the call.

It took her half an hour to get ready, or twenty minutes if you didn't count the ten she spent heaving in the bathroom. Even in a rush, she'd managed to remove all traces of having a rough night, and as she stepped into the community centre, the throbbing in her head caused by the many consumed units of alcohol the previous night had eased somewhat.

As she walked in she spotted a woman standing beside the door of the main room. She was thin, with dark hair that hung limply past her shoulders. She looked young but as Amber got closer, she noticed that the worry lines on her forehead, her pale skin and slight eye bags made her seem a little older. Her attire was bland and was accessorized with nothing other than a lanyard around her neck with an ID card attached to it. Amber knew then who she was; their new probation worker.

"Uh, hello," Amber said, causing the woman to look at her. "I'm Amber."

"Amber Baxter?" She nodded. "The others said you had a doctors appointment, is that right?"

She nodded again. "Go through, I need to talk to you all."

Amber had a feeling she knew what the topic of that talk was going to be. "Where's the other guy?"

She didn't answer, but walked beside Amber blankly. There was something seriously off about her, but whatever it was, Amber couldn't put her finger on it.

Amber walked in to see the five delinquents looking at her, donned in the usual orange-jumpsuits. The sight of them suddenly gave her the urge to laugh, the way they were stood made them look like a knock-off version of the Power Rangers. Or the Teletubbies.

"Nice of you to turn up, love." Nathan whispered to her as she took her place between him and Simon. She glared at him and stamped on his foot.

Once everyone was lined up facing their new probation worker, she began to speak. "Gary and my colleague Tony have both been reported missing." There was a pause, in which the probation worker surveyed each of their faces. She was suspicious, that much was obvious. Amber kept her face emotionless, it was the safest expression she knew. "Their families are very worried about them. Have you seen anything unusual, anything at all?"

For a moment, no-one moved. Then, on Amber's left, she saw a hand raise and she groaned inwardly. It was Nathan's hand. She was certain he was going to say something completely inappropriate and fuck everything up, being the twat he was. Why couldn't he have been born with an off switch?

"You saw something?" Sally questioned.

"A few days ago, I go into the toilets, Tony and Gary are there, they're butt-naked." At this point, Sally folded her arms, she wasn't buying any of it. Not that anyone could blame her, it was utterly ridiculous. Nathan didn't seem to notice Sally's disbelieving glare and continued.

"Tony has Gary by his hair, and he's just doin' him, Doggy style" Nathan felt that it was appropriate to mime this. "And Tony's like 'Who's your daddy? I'm your daddy, I'm big daddy!" He was now in a full blown improvisation, which included a lot of grunting, thrusting and incredibly off putting facial expressions.

"So, I'm guessing that they've run off to continue their illicit homosexual affair," Nathan said, calmly. "And I ask you, in this world of intolerance and prejudice who are we—who are _we_ to condemn them?"

Amber glanced at Sally. She did not look pleased, but if she had anything she wanted to say, she didn't bother. Instead, she just walked out, leaving the group glaring at Nathan.

"What?"

They sighed, and Amber stamped on his foot again in frustration. What a twat.

* * *

Since Sally hadn't gave them a task to do, they decided to do their own thing. The lads had gone up to the roof, while the girls sat outside on an old rusty metal picnic table. It suddenly occurred to Amber that she hadn't spent any time with the girls alone. They sat and passed around a cigarette in a comfortable silence.

Although Amber wouldn't admit it, she enjoyed the company. Since she'd broke away from her no-good friends and been kicked out by her mum, she'd been alone. Loneliness was something she despised. She had felt it before she'd been kicked out or left her friends, but she'd done a good job at hiding it by drinking, doing drugs and being erratic. She did crazy things, because she was angry. Angry at feeling abandoned and ignored. Looking back, although she was right to have been upset, she had behaved irrationally and childish. There was only one person that really understood her at the time, and she hadn't spoken to them since the accident. Just the thought of them was too painful to bear.

Kelly offered her the last of the cigarette, and she took it mumbling a thanks before taking a long drag. She inhaled deeply before slowly exhaling the smoke. The three of them stood up as Amber threw the cigarette nub into the river, and made their way inside to join the boys on the roof. When they pushed open the door, they saw the boys peering over the edge. Amber looked over and saw that they were watching a crestfallen Sally standing below, staring out at the water. She didn't stand there long, she stepped back from the railings and began to walk away, giving the group one last glance before walking out of view.

"Great story," Amber sneered at Nathan. "Maybe you'll strike up a similar romance with a hefty, heavily-tattooed psychopath when you go in those prison showers."

"Oh come on, love, don't be so dramatic," he beamed, swinging an arm around her. "I reckon we've got away with it."

"Do you actually believe that, or are you just really dumb?" Curtis asked.

"I actually believe that!" Nathan said earnestly, digging in his pocket for a cigarette. "I mean, I was there, I should have one of these bullshit powers."

"Ya can 'ave mine, wanna hear wot people are finking 'bout you?" Kelly grumbled.

"He doesn't need to hear, we call him a prick often enough." Amber smirked.

"Harsh," Nathan said, theatrically placing his hand on his heart before lighting up his cigarette and taking a long drag. "Nah, I want something good. You know, something from the A list."

"Maybe you can fly." Simon suggested.

Alisha rolled her eyes. "He's not going to be able to fly."

"Yeah," Nathan chirped, ignoring her. "There's always someone who can fly! Check it out."

It turns out, there's not always someone who can fly. Instead, they watched Nathan leap off a chair and belly flop onto the concrete. Amber chuckled as he waddled back over to them. There was a moments silence before Curtis broke it.

"So what happens now?" he asked the group. "Is this it? Are we going to be like this forever?"

"What if we're meant to be like…" Simon started. Amber saw his eyes sparkle. "Superheroes?"

"You lot, superheroes?" Nathan scoffed. "No offense, but in what kind of fucked up world would that be allowed to happen? Superheroes—I love this guy, you prick!"

"Come on then, give us an explanation to why we have these powers." Amber snapped, turning to Nathan. He looked around at the group and shrugged. "Exactly."

"Wot if we're not tha only ones? Wot if there's loadsa people like us all ova town?"

"No," Nathan shook his head. "That kinda thing only happens in America. This will fade away. I'm telling you, this time next week, it'll be back to the same old boring shit."

The six took in the view of the tacky eyesore of flats, which settled in a uniformed line near the river. The whole scene was dismal, and their future was about as murky as that river below them. So many questions were weighing down on them, and one of them was whether or not they had gotten away with it. The answer to that was unknown, but there was one question of which Amber was certain she knew the answer.

They wouldn't be going back to the same old boring shit ever again.

* * *

**A/N: I've given you a little bit more of a hint on Amber's background, but I'm not going to let you know everything just yet. The next chapter will be much longer and better- especially since its the beginning of Episode 2! I'll get it up as soon as possible, I promise, I've just been a very busy lately.**

**I apologise for the chapter being so short, but I do think it's necessary and before you ask- there will be a lot more Nathan/Amber interaction in the next few chapters, don't you worry!**

**I really appreciate all your reviews, follows and favourites- they make my day and it lets me know that you're enjoying the story. Thank you all so, so, so much and I'll see you in the next chapter!**


	5. Authors Note - STORY ON HIATUS

Hi Everyone!

I just wanted to let you all know that I'm going to be away for a little while, I need to really focus on my college work at the moment and I'm doing some major projects outside of college that I need to knuckle down on.

I'll try and write when I can- but it doesn't mean I'll update and post the chapters right away. In fact, it's likely there will be several chapters posted at once, but I promise you all as soon as all the hectic stuff is done I'll update. Also, I've edited chapters 3 and 4 because I wasn't that happy with them- and I've also added a slight hint towards the reason Amber has her power.

I want to thank you all for following the story- you've been really great and I really appreciate it! I'm sorry for this, I really am, I love writing this but I really need to focus right now, I hope you understand.

However, when I have the time I'll get writing chapters ready for you when I'm finished with everything. This might even be best, since I could edit the chapters if I suddenly have an idea- which would make the story better, I hope!

Anyway, thanks for reading guys- see you soon!

Crazy Adolescence x


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